10/17/2011

*UPDATE- As ThePlaylist correctly noted, the King Arthur flick Warner Brothers is moving forward on is the David Dobkin-directed Arthur & Lancelot, which we last wrote about back in July. *

It's been a couple of years since Bryan Singer(X-men) announced his plans for a remake of Excalibur, John Boorman's 1981 film retelling the origins of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. It's a film many, including myself, consider a classic. I used to watch it all the time as a child, terrified of Mordred in his golden armor. The odd thing is, Warner Brothers had another King Arthur film running parallel, this one I believe to be directed by Guy Ritchie(Sherlock Holmes). Why? Who knows, but the studio has apparently chosen which one they'll be pursuing in the future, as Singer says his film has now been shelved...Singer: "Yeah, unfortunately it is no longer going to happen,” he says. “I was really enthused to do it. I’m a fan of John Boorman’s movie and it was my intention to get it going after Jack The Giant Killer was completed. The project was with Warner Bros and what happened is that another King Arthur project was brought to them during that time. Basically, it was just more ready to go into production than ours was. That is why our version of Excalibur ended up being negated. But, when that happened, it allowed me to go straight into developing Battlestar Galactica – which I think will be really exciting."

Kinda sad, because I'd be much more interesting in Singer's take on the legend than Ritchie's punch 'em up version. As for Battlestar Galactica, it's not a remake or a spinoff of the TV series, it's his own vision. Could be cool.

As for Jack the Giant Killer, not much has been heard about it in awhile. It'll star Nicholas Hoult, Ian McShane, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Eleanor Tomlinson, Bill Nighy, and Eddie Marsan. Look for the bloody, adult take on the Jack and the Beanstalk story to hit theaters on June 15th 2012. [SFX]